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The first computer bug was an actual insect.

In 1947, a team of engineers at Harvard University was working on the Harvard Mark II computer when they discovered the problem. The operators had been trying to debug the system, but it wasn't until they opened up the machine that they found the culprit: a moth stuck in one of the relays. They taped the moth to the computer log with the note "First actual case of bug being found" and continued debugging. This event marked the birth of the term "computer bug," and the moth is now on display at the Smithsonian Institution.